What is a Social Media Echo Chamber and how to break out of it?

Let’s start with a story. Recently one of our interns came up with a question - Why do my social media feeds show posts only similar to what I am posting?

Her point was that if she was posting about Meta Ads, tips, how-tos, case studies, and other similar content, she aimed to reach potential customers, not industry peers.

The right people would have been the business owners - who would actually benefit from her tips, not the people who do similar posts with the same/similar goals.

That's a valid point, isn't it?

Ever wondered why does that happen?

Let's understand it.

It’s a common phenomenon on social media which is called an Echo Chamber or a Filter Bubble.

Social Media platforms have Confirmation Biases in their core algorithms that skew or limit the information an individual user sees. You see more of the posts you confirm or say - you engage with.?

That's the reason she saw more of the posts she liked or engaged with and her posts were liked or commented only by her peers. There was no engagement from the potential customers.

She needed to break out of it. Below are the tips that worked for her:

Create with Target Audience in mind: Your posts should indicate and address your target audience. Keeping it broad can be a problem.?

Hashtags: Choose hashtags wisely. See how specific you can comfortably be. Shift from industry-specific to customer-centric hashtags.

Engage Outside the Industry: Participate in communities that align with your potential customers' interests.

Encourage Open Dialogue: Foster conversations that welcome various opinions. Aim your questions at your target audience, not at your peers.?

Collaboration: Collaborating with people different from what you do. For example, a marketer can collaborate with a payment gateway provider, or with a brand that grew using his/her strategies.

Paid Advertising: With the help of paid ads, you can get past the echo chamber. You can find and target people outside your immediate circles which will help break the echo chamber you are in.?

Try these, you will see the dramatic difference in your social media feed. It would become more meaningful and you would be able to reach out to the potential customers too.?

Have you ever found yourself in a social media echo chamber and you did something different? Do share in the comment.